A stitch in time

Published
12:00 am CDT, Sunday, March 30, 2008

ST. LOUIS - Almost everyone relates to quilts and how Americana is woven into their fabrics. The Saint Louis Art Museum's featured exhibit, "Quilts in a Material World: Selections from the Winterthur Collection," examines the roots of quilt making and quilts ranging in date from the 1700s to 1850 - and some quilts estimated to be from the 1600s. The exhibition shows 50 quilts with 45 from the personal collection of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), housed at the Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, in the Brandywine Valley of Delaware, and the ancestral home of du Pont. The exhibition opened earlier this month and runs through Memorial Day, May 26. The quilts were selected for their remarkable beauty as well as for the information they provide about material culture in the first decades of the American republic. The exhibition explores the historical and cultural context of the quilts, looking at the lives of the makers as well as the political, economic and technological developments that affected the makers' selection of materials and designs. Early quilts were luxury trades and du Pont was an avid collector of, among other things, textiles and quilts, also referred to as "spreads" and "counterpanes" during various time periods. The exhibit has fine examples of the three types of quilts in quilting's earliest history: whole cloth, applique and pieced. In the first of six galleries, the exhibit shows international examples of quilts from East India, England and Europe with works as early as the 1600s. "This was the strength of the du Pont collection including the Federal period (1780-1830)," said exhibit curator Zoe Annis Perkins, administrative head of conservation and textile conservator for the Saint Louis Art Museum. "These were the cultures that influenced American quilting." While du Pont neither quilted nor commissioned work, he worked with dealers in the early 20th century to obtain his collection. "These are very rare pieces," Perkins said. "This is what's great about his collection, he had these very early works." As a whole, quilts demonstrate that the "material world" conveyed multiple meanings during the history of quilt making. In early America, quilts were a status symbol reflecting worldliness, wealth, taste and leisure time. As the country grew and the Industrial Revolution enabled America to establish its own textile industry, a wide range of affordable fabrics became available. From the array of materials, women produced quilts that served as an important part of their identity in a constantly changing world. Another extremely rare du Pont procurement is a bed set made and owned by a young Rhode Island woman, Mary Remington. She was just 23 years old when, in 1815, she created a beautiful and intricate whitework quilt in anticipation of her impending marriage. Remington's quilt, and the amazing cache of letters that she penned over the years to Peleg Congdon, who eventually became her husband, proved an elegant framework for interpreting the outstanding Winterthur quilt collection and gives a glimpse into life in 19th-century America. When du Pont collected Remington's whitework "spread," he found it with the bed valances and a table cover. Due to the fragility of the fabric and fabric's wear over time, it is unusual to find a nearly complete bed set, and especially in good condition. Not only did du Pont obtain the bed set, but also Remington's letters. "Du Pont got as much information as he could about the owner, which tells the story of the quilt," Perkins said. Excerpts from Remington's letters are contained in an accompanying exhibition catalogue by author Linda Eaton. "Women's history was just not documented," Perkins said. "This is very special." The exhibition also explores the use of quilts as documentation of women's participation in political events. A commemorative handkerchief used as a quilt center, for example, suggests that women played a much greater role in the politics of the early American republic than is often acknowledged. Patriotism is revealed in the frequent use of the Great Seal of America motif and the profusion of quilts made from printed textiles that feature heroic political figures. Admission to the exhibition is $6 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, $4 for children 6 to 12, free for children younger than 6 and includes an iPod audio tour. For more information visit slam.org.